migraine pattern changing drastically...

[mninehouser]

i'll try and keep this short and sweet... i've gotten migraine with aura for about 12 years now. i'm not 26 and for the past 3 years they have been very bearable; only about 1-3 a year and their severity level has become more tolerable. in the month of january ('07) i got 5 classic migraines with aura. it seemed very obvious that such a drastic pattern change meant there was a definite cause. about 4 weeks before this january episode, i had started citalopram (celexa) for anxiety. my anxiety subsided a good bit after the first 4 weeks of treatment (20mg a day). but i supposed that once the medication entered my bloodstream continually enough to treat my anxiety, it also began triggering my migraines again. there has only been a couple things written in journals about this happening with SSRI medications, but it is fairly talked-about so i felt a bit of relieve. i tapered off within two weeks (got my last two of the five migraines after i went from 10mg to 5mg) and have been good for over two weeks now...
yesterday, however, i was driving to work and singing along to the decemberists when all of the sudden i experienced word-salading. i'm sure most of you know this is a symptom of severe migraine. i used to always get this side effect during migraine attacks in my youth, but not within the last 3 years. - even in the january migraine bout, i hadn't gotten numbness or word-salading. anyway, this was not accompanied by my usual visual aura - zigzagging colorful lines or blind spots resembling a twinkling stain-glassed window - no. it was just by  itself and it only lasted about 2 or 3 minutes. i was terrified. my girlfriend took me to the ER. i told them my history of classic migraine, the fact that they had been dying down recently, then started up again with the use of citalopram, and that this was the only time in my life i had word-salading without an aura or a headache (at this point.) - they gave me a cardiogram and a CT scan of my head. not a single abnormality was present. obviously that's good news. but what in the hell?
can this just all of the sudden happen? things are going accordingly, i'm seeming growing out of my migraines as they are obviously getting less severe, then all of the sudden i get 6 in 6 weeks? the last of which is unlike any migraine i ever had? i guess what i'm asking is, is this pattern seen often? is it seen when using aggravating medication and then discontinuing it? - also, i found out during the months of december and january my car had been leaking carbon monoxide under the driver's seat. eventually toward the end of january my cadalytic (sp?) converter completely snapped off and my car become a monoxide box... i'm sure this didn't help. obviously i'm looking for someone to say something along the lines of "hey that pattern change is usually characteristic to folks growing completely out of migraines and winning a lot of money" but i don't expect that.. i'm just hoping someone has had some similar experience and can shed a little light on the situation for me... i have no health insurance or else i'd be talking to doctors... thanks so much for reading. blarg.

-m. ninehouser

[Crystlas]

Yep, much less severe.  I do not vomit or have diarrhea with my migraines.  I sometimes still have nausea.  The aura is still bad, but the actual headache pain is more tolerable.  My nurse practitioner told me 500mg is the theraputic dose, but best taken morning and night at 250mg each dose.  I have noticed a huge difference and I do not suffer anywhere near as bad as I did before.  

[snw1830]

my neourologist has my daughter on magnesium and also B2

[mninehouser]

that is odd. about 2 or so weeks ago i started taking one a day men's which has 120mg of magnesium and also went out and got magnesium suppliments that are 250mg... so for roughly 2 weeks i've been getting 370mg a day... could this explain why my last migraine (after i'd been taking the magnesium) was less severe and without the visual aura but with the word salading? i've heard a lot of times people with classic migraine eventually experience a downgraded version of their previously bad headaches.. like they experience headaches with residual characteristics of classic migraines but they never get terribly bad; would magnesium possibly have this effect on migraines? dumbing them down i mean? i wish i knew more about it; all i've heard is that it's good for prevention and for treatment once the onset starts. do you find your migraines are less severe now that you have a good amount of magnesium in your system constantly?

-m.

[Crystlas]

Migraine patterns change with age.  Some SSRI's can worsen headaches.  I use Wellbutrin and so far, so good no headaches.  I also have classic migraine.  I have a cheap solution and try this for two weeks.  My nurse practitioner recommended this to me and it works wonders.  I went from having three headaches a week down to 4 or 5 a year.  Usually from trigger foods for extreme stress due to my bipolar disorder.  Anyhow, go to any drug store or Walmart and get Magnesium tablets 250mg.  Take one in the morning and one at night for a total of 500mg a day.  It is awsome.  Works especially well on classic migraine.  Keep me posted by dropping me a message if it works for you!  I love it when I tell people about this and it helps them too!  Also, stay away from your trigger foods!  Take care.